A Photo
by Ariana Malfoy- Lestrange
Summary: She finds a photo of them, together...and all the memories come rushing back, PostHogwarts. HC
1. Finding

Have you ever opened an old book, flipping carefully through the delicate yellowed pages, and come to a certain spot where you can find the roses of yesterday?  
  
I have. And I looked at the book- a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, but what I found between pages 96 and 97 made me start.  
  
I thought I burned all the pictures of you I had. I distinctly remember going through all my possessions- the photo albums, the snapshots on my walls, tables, and desks, and burning them, ripping them apart.  
  
How could have this found it's way here? I looked at the picture- you and me, on the day we had the picnic by the lake...in the picture, I'm laughing, and you're hugging me.  
  
I smiles, thinking of the day, but then I remember, I remember how much I hate you, and I almost rip the picture.  
  
But then, for some odd reason, I feel like I shouldn't. I want to, but I feel like I shouldn't.  
  
So, I set it aside, covering it with an old poster so that I don't have to look at your face.  
  
I try to go back to cleaning out the attic, like I was supposed to, but the damn picture won't get out of the back of my mind.  
  
That's exactly how I felt after that night- our relationship, no matter how hard I tried to forget it; it just wouldn't leave me alone.  
  
Frustrated, I give up, and take the picture downstairs with me, going into my bedroom, and locking it in the second drawer of my night table. That's where I keep my pictures of Cedric, and other little things from relationships that I cherished. I have to clean that out too.  
  
Picking up my to-do list from my desk, I quickly glance over it.  
  
Feed the cat. Check.  
  
Do laundry. Check.  
  
Clean out attic.  
  
I skipped that one, and went to the next item, the last item on my list.  
  
Buy new broom.  
  
The perfect excuse to get out of this house, and distract myself from the stupid picture.  
  
I grabbed my purse, and Apparated to Diagon Alley. Going into Quality Quidditch Supplies, I looked longingly at the latest Silverstar 5000. I deserved to buy myself a present, didn't I?  
  
Yes, yes, I did.  
  
Turning to go ask the price, I accidentally bumped into the man in back of me.  
  
"Oh- sorry." I looked up at him apologetically.  
  
"Harry. How nice to see you again." I said calmly. 


	2. Losing it all over again

Author's Notes: YAY!! I finally decided to update this one, sorry for the bit of the wait, had to sort out some ideas for this one. To answer the main question, yes, the guy Cho's talking about IS Harry...and you'll soon find exactly why she feels that way towards him in this chapter. Thanks to all my beautiful reviewers! Hugs and kisses to you all!  
  
Angel3ve- Not a one-shot, though I seriously considered it making it one! Thankfully, my BETA convinced me not to!  
  
mashpotatobunny- Thank you for your kind words! Poetry, I completely suck at...and what would I write about if I was a pro writer? Yeah, I probably should make it a little more obvious that the guy in the pic is Harry, but that's part of the fun- never knowing if you know who the guy in the pic is until this chapter!  
  
Gwendolyn James- Yes, it's Post-Hogwarts...I probably should go put that in the summary...::runs off to change summary:: Thanks for reviewing, fellow Fanfiction Stalker...and congrats on your new position at AF! You totally deserved it! Okay, off-topic...  
  
Enigma- Continuing, yes. Great potential? Wow, thanks. (  
  
Karri-Granger- Yes, the guy in the picture was Harry. It's going to continue, and thanks for your reviews, sweet as always.  
  
hufflepuff-gurl16- Thank you! That's so nice of you!  
  
LilyLoverNS- Your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reviewing!!  
  
Audrey- Here you go. It's finally updated! That means I'm finally on my way to ACTUALLY finishing something! And I kept it PG-13...actually, I would say PG. Thank you for all your fabulous, helpful plot ideas and whatnot on this one! Expect some more hysterical, panicked cell phone calls in the middle of the night, or emails typed entirely in caps lock when I begin writing the next chapter.(  
  
Here we go, right where we left off. And no rotten fruit when you get to a certain part...I know what Harry does is totally out of character, but you'll see why in later chapters! And the very beginning of this chapter is Cho going back and remembering something, you'll see what I mean. Enjoy! And be kind and review...please?  
  
As soon I turned, and said your name, for that instant, everything comes back to me. Everything, all the pain, all the hurt, all the feelings which I tried so hard to put away, like old memories locked in a dusty box, and put under the bed, it all comes back.  
  
I remember, vividly, everything about that night, and I wonder how I can even speak to you without any trace of emotion after that night. After what happened.  
  
It was a late Wednesday night, and I was coming home from work, coming home to the London flat that you and I had just bought not too long after we graduated.  
  
Upon turning the key in the lock, I remember hearing trickles of voices coming from inside, and I remember thinking that Ron or Hermione must be over.  
  
The apartment seemed strangely empty, and a bit dark, and cold. Making my way towards the bedroom in the back, I opened the door, and it was like I was in complete shock.  
  
I couldn't move, or speak, or breathe even. I think my heart actually stopped beating for a minute.  
  
It was because you...you were kissing Ginny. Ginny Weasley.  
  
And I couldn't comprehend why.  
  
I stumbled backwards, reaching for the door handle. You stopped kissing her, and met my eyes.  
  
"Harry..." I whispered.  
  
"Cho, it's not what it looks-" You stammered.  
  
I shook my head mutely, moving backwards. As I was turning the doorknob, my head went back, and accidentally hit the doorframe. Feeling very dizzy, and unsteady, I sunk to the floor.  
  
"No," I whispered, "it's exactly what it looks like." Blackness overwhelmed me, and my consciousness slipped away from me.  
  
I woke up, how long later, I don't know. But you were leaning over me, gently shaking me.  
  
"Don't touch me." I hissed, pushing you away.  
  
You let go of me with an odd expression in your eyes. Was it confusion?  
  
"What happened?" you asked.  
  
Anger flared up in me like a wave. "What happened? You have the nerve to ask me what happened?" I was yelling by now.  
  
You seemed even more confused. "Cho, what are you talking about?"  
  
That did it. I stood up, shaking with fury. "What am I talking about? I'm talking about you and Ginny!" I gestured to Ginny, who was standing by the window, looking upset.  
  
You stood up too. "What are you talking about? What does Ginny have to do with any of this?"  
  
"BECAUSE YOU WERE KISSING HER!! BECAUSE YOU WERE BLOODY CHEATING ON ME?!?"  
  
You seemed absolutely speechless. "I didn't kiss her. I just got home, and then I find Ginny crying, and you unconscious in here."  
  
I laughed. "You really expect me to believe that? You really expect me to believe that when I saw you kiss her myself?"  
  
"You know I would never do anything like that, Cho. You know I wouldn't."  
  
I look you in the eye. "No, Harry, I would think that you wouldn't, but I saw you. I saw you kiss her." I turned. "I'm going to get my stuff."  
  
I walked out of the room, wondering how on earth was I going to be able to get all my stuff, and leave as quickly as possible. You followed.  
  
"Why won't you believe me? I didn't kiss her!" You said, furiously.  
  
"That's what they all say. I can't believe you expect me to believe you!"  
  
"I do expect you to believe me, because I trust you. Love is nothing without trust."  
  
"Then maybe we were never in love." I whispered, sadly, the anger ebbing away, and an indescribable melancholy taking its place. "Maybe we were never in love, maybe we were never meant to be."  
  
"No. No, that's not true." You looked like you wanted to cry.  
  
"Look, I'll come by tomorrow, and get my stuff. Now is obviously not a good time." I turned, and walked out the front door, waiting until I was a good distance away, to let myself cry.  
  
And now, remembering all of this, I stand before you, years later; I stand before you feeling very much as I did that night.  
  
"Cho, it's nice to see you too." You say, carefully.  
  
An uncomfortable, awkward silence falls.  
  
"So... how is life treating you?" I ask, feeling stupid.  
  
"Fair enough, I suppose." You seem to hesitate, as if you want to say something, but at the same time, don't want to say it. "Cho, about what happened-"  
  
"Harry, I don't want to talk about it. It's over now. I've moved on, and you moved on too. Let's just let it be." I ignore the little voice in my head calling me a liar, because I haven't moved on, tried as hard as could to move on, but I couldn't.  
  
"Right. We've moved on." You seemed like you were trying to convince yourself that we had.  
  
"Well, Harry, it was lovely talking to you. I wish you the best, and maybe I'll see you again. I need to go home- forgot to clean out my attic." I said, trying quick as could to end the conversation, because I didn't want to look at you any longer.  
  
"Oh. Oh, okay then. It was nice talking, and same to you. Bye then." You turned, waved, and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
I stared after you, wishing I could call you back, but I didn't. Instead, I turned, and Apparated home.  
  
Harry mentally smacked himself in the head. Why was he so stupid? Did he really have to bring up that night?  
  
Arriving at his house, he opened the door to find Ron lounging on his couch.  
  
"Hey, Ron." He said tiredly.  
  
"Harry! Been waiting for you to get back. Hermione's all frenzied today, she's decorating the nursery, and demanded that I 'get out of her hair', and proceeded to call my sister for help."  
  
Harry smiled. "So she's a terror today?"  
  
Ron nodded. "You remember how it was when she was with Emma. It's the same, only ten times worse now."  
  
Emma was Hermione's and Ron's first child, a precocious little girl aged three now.  
  
Harry sat on the couch next to Ron. "Have you decided on a name yet?"  
  
"Well since Hermione got to name Emma, I told her I'm naming this one. Knowing Hermione, if she could name him, she'd probably give him a writer- ish name. I mean, Emma Eliza Weasley, for Merlin's sake. Hermione has high hopes that Emma will write some legendary book or novel. No, I told her I'm naming him, and I've decided on Robert."  
  
"It's definitely a boy, then?"  
  
"Yes. Finally...I can teach him Quidditch." Ron was beaming.  
  
Harry laughed. Ron's face grew serious.  
  
"And that's why you can't go to France. You've got to help me teach Robert." He said, looking intently at Harry.  
  
Harry stopped laughing, and stood up, glancing around the house, which was littered with packing boxes. "Ron, I have to go."  
  
"No you don't. You volunteered for the stupid job, you can't go to France for years, and never be able to contact Hermione and I. You can't do it, Harry."  
  
"They need me, Ron." Harry avoided his eyes.  
  
"No, they don't need you. I don't care if it's some important Auror mission, you're not going because they need you."  
  
"Then why am I going, Ron? Why am I going, if they don't need me?"  
  
"Because you're running away from something Harry."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"Yes, it is. It's true, and you know it."  
  
"I need to do it, Ron. I need to. Can't you see? I need to forget her." Harry whispered.  
  
"You don't need to run away to some Auror mission where you're going to get killed to forget her."  
  
"I can't forget her here Ron."  
  
"So you're throwing away your life because you can't forget her?"  
  
"I'm not throwing away-"  
  
"Harry, we both know how dangerous this mission is. We both know that there's a high chance that you won't come out of there alive."  
  
"Well, I'll take that chance, then. I'm going, and there's nothing you or Hermione can do to stop me."  
  
"You're going to abandon everything?"  
  
"I have to."  
  
"What about me? What about Hermione? What about your friends, what about your goddaughter, and soon-to be godson?"  
  
Harry was silent for a minute.  
  
"You want me to be happy, don't you, Ron?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Then just let me go on this mission. Don't fight my decision. This is the only way I can be happy again."  
  
Ron was silent too.  
  
"If that's what you want, Harry."  
  
"It is. It's exactly what I want." He ignored the voice in his head calling him a liar, because it really wasn't what he wanted, not at all.  
  
She's moved on. Now it's my turn to move on as well.  
  
Author's Notes: There it was! Promise you'll find out more in the next chapter!! Review...and review...and review...:D And remember, no rotten tomatoes about Harry cheating on her...you'll see exactly why and what all happened soon... 


	3. Remembering

Author's Notes: Okay, for some reason that I don't exactly know, I HATED this chapter with a vengeance. It simply did not seem to flow with me, and I really was not very happy with it. My characters were just not cooperating. ::sighs:: Bad characters! Anyways, here it is, I've had it written for almost a month now, but I was debating uploading it or not. I only did it because you all asked me to.  
  
Gwendolyn James- I'm not saying...::mysterious look on face:: You'll have to find out....  
  
Audrey: Merci beaucoup! And you, being a France-obsessed freak, should know what that means. ;)  
  
LilyLoverNS- Aww, thank you. And considering that H/C is my favorite ship...well, what do you think?  
  
FSI- Thank you for your very enthusiastic review!  
  
Apricot- Chan- Couldn't have agreed with you more. Harry is stupid, Cho is stupid, they're all stupid.  
  
Dancing-by-moonlight- Thank you! YAY for H/C!  
  
HoshiHikari4ever – Yup. Really big.  
  
Enigma- Two reviews! Wow! Thanks, and see, I finally updated. :D  
  
Kirjava Deamon- Thank you! Glad to be of assistance. ;)  
  
Maria clara- Why thank you very much. I'll get in contact with you about the rest of the H/C fics.  
  
Mashpotatoebunny- The poetic-ness might be lost forever, I'm afraid. I'm trying to show the actual story and it's hard! I miss the easier poetic- ness. :)  
  
Luminara Windu- Thanks. Here, I updated, but I don't love it...  
  
Anonymous- Thank you! How nice of you.  
  
HLane- Updated, and here! :D Thanks for the review!  
  
Karri- Granger- Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can't say it enough!  
  
Cambria- Thank you very much! See, I updated....  
  
Alrighty then, here it is. Keep in mind I agonized over this chapter, but it wouldn't work like I wanted it to. ::hangs head sadly:: Read, and review, please!  
  
I lie here, in bed, in the middle of the night. I'm trying to sleep, but I can't, simply because there's just too much on my mind, and I can't sleep. I toss, and I turn...but to no avail. Sleep escapes me, evades my grasping fingertips.  
  
Everything seems to remind me of you right now. The moonlight, falling onto my bed, reminds me of those nights where we would sit, and laugh on the balcony, dancing in the pale ambience. The book, sitting on my nightstand, reminds me how you would tease me about reading at night, calling me a true Ravenclaw. And that picture, the photo that's in the second drawer of my nightstand, it's haunting me, even though I can't see it. I can't escape you.  
  
It's exactly how I felt the days, and months after that night. No matter what, it was like you were always on my mind.  
  
And it didn't help that just days after, I was approached by the last remaining, not arrested, Death Eaters.  
  
It had been only a year after he was defeated. Most of the Death Eaters had been killed in the war, or at least in the last battle. Some fled, overseas, and some killed themselves before the Ministry could find them. But some were still in England, either protesting their innocence, or quietly gathering together to talk of re-forming again.  
  
I remember; I was at a hotel in London, where I was living, until I bought my new house. It was late in the evening, and a knock sounded at the door. Thinking it was room service, with the food I ordered, I opened it.  
  
To my surprise, and dismay, it was a tall man in a dark hooded cloak.  
  
"Can I help you?" I asked, searching for my wand in my robe.  
  
He took a step forward. "As a matter of fact, yes you can, Cho." In a swift motion, he pulled back his hood, and I found that I was looking into the face of Draco Malfoy.  
  
I let out something in between a sharp gasp and a little scream. Covering my mouth with his hand, Malfoy pushed me into the room, and shut the door.  
  
A thousand thoughts flashed across my mind. Was he trying to kidnap me? Kill me? What should I do?  
  
He surveyed me coldly. Then, he released me. In an instant, I had my wand out, and pointing at him.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" I asked sharply. Malfoy smirked his trademark smirk. "I have a friendly proposition to make to you. Can I sit?" He didn't take his eyes off my face, but sat down on the couch.  
  
I also sat down, directly across from him, still keeping my wand aimed at him. I narrowed my eyes. "A proposition? What sort of proposition would Draco Malfoy, Death Eater, have for me?"  
  
"One that would be very beneficial to you." He leaned forward. "I heard that recently, you broke up with our favorite little hero, because he was cheating on you with that Weasel girl."  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" My voice got dangerously high.  
  
"I'm getting to that. Here is my proposition, as you probably well know already, there's been talks of the Death Eaters secretly re-forming, or what's left of us, anyway."  
  
I nodded, still suspicious. He continued. "Well, we need, in order to become powerful again, someone who is and was close to Wonder Boy. Someone who knows his deepest fears, his greatest treasure, and his weakest spot. We need someone like you."  
  
I was speechless. Finally, I found my voice again. "You have the nerve to come here and ask me to betray everything I fought for, everything I gave up for? I would never turn against Harry, or the Light Side, and you know that."  
  
"But don't you want revenge? Don't you want to get him back for what he did to you?" Malfoy hissed, his gray eyes glinting with malice...and perhaps a little bit of insanity.  
  
"No! I don't want to get revenge on Harry. End of discussion, Malfoy. I will never join the Dark Side...or whatever's left of it. You can leave now." I stood up  
  
He stood as well, surveying me with an odd, calculating air.. "You still love him, don't you?"  
  
I froze. "No, of course not." I said, automatically.  
  
Malfoy smirked. "But you do. You do love him still; even after all he's done. You still love him."  
  
"I don't! Just because I won't help you kill him doesn't mean I still love him."  
  
"What if you had to? What if it was your life, or his?"  
  
"Don't make any empty threats, Malfoy. You know very well that you cannot do a thing to me."  
  
"Maybe I already have." He turned, and opened the door.  
  
"What?" But he was already gone. I went over to my bed, and pressed the little blue button.  
  
"Concierge." A cool woman's voice answered.  
  
"I just wanted to let you know that a Death Eater is in the building right now. He has a dark cloak, and is hooded. He answers to the name of Draco Malfoy."  
  
Even though she tried to conceal her surprise, I could still hear her gasp. "Th-thank you. We'll look into it."  
  
I let go of the button, knowing that hotel security was being activated, and he would be caught in a matter of minutes. You could only Apparate outside.  
  
He was caught, and taken directly to Azkaban for trial. I think he's still there.  
  
I keep going back to that one line though. "Maybe I already have." What did he mean by that? What could have he done?  
  
And another thing- how could have he known about Harry and I breaking up? Nobody knew, not so soon after.  
  
I had a feeling there was a lot more to the break-up than I thought I knew. That meant a certain Draco Malfoy was going to have to answer some of my questions.  
  
Closing my eyes, I fell asleep, only to be dreaming of you. Again.  
  
Author's Notes- Don't give me that look. Don't. No! Not the look! ::runs away from the look, but pops her head back in:: Review! 


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